My top ten(ish) Ancients

Mat suggested I give this a try, and after much enjoyment of his I figured I'd go for it

This first one is one of my favorite Greek coins. I love the way it feels in my hand, the cold smooth metal, and a surprisingly heaviness for it's size. The patina (on the obv.) looks great too. I got it though, for its portrait of Apollo; I really like the way it looks. I think the lack of control mark puts some off, but I had a to get it and was happy I did.


Macedonian Kingdom, Philip II, 359 - 336 B.C.
Bronze AE Unit, SGCV II 6697, aVF, 7.079g, 16.9mm, 0o, Macedonian mint, obverse head of Apollo right wearing taenia; reverse FILIPPOU, young male rider on prancing horse right;

"Philip II expanded the size and influence of the Macedonian Kingdom, but is perhaps best known as the father of Alexander the Great. He personally selected the design of his coins. In 356 B.C., the year Alexander the Great was born, Philip's race horse won in the Olympic Games. The reverse of this type likely depicts his winning horse."


Some further info about Phillip II of Macedon (The father of Alexander The Great):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_II_of_Macedon

 

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Nice start & very cool. I agree the portrait is what makes the coin. The reverse is cool too. Thats one thing I dont have is a greek with a horse on it.

 

This one is ugly, corroded, an ancient counterfeit, hard tosee detai, and could probably use a tiny bit of cleaning. However, it's 2090 years old, minted during the year Sulla died and it has a bit of provenance It's from the John Quincy Adams (and his descendants) Collection and was "later part of the Massachusetts Historical Society Collection, which was sold by Stack’s on 5 and 6 March 1971." So with all its draw backs, this is still one of my favorites.

Roman Republic, M. Volteius M. f., 78 B.C., Ancient Counterfeit, Ex John Quincy Adams Collection
Fouree silver plated denarius, cf. RSC I Volteia 4 (official, Rome mint, 78 B.C.), Fair, illegal mint, weight 2.881g, maximum diameter 17.5mm, c. 78 - 40 B.C.; obverse laureate helmeted head of Attis right; reverse Cybele seated in chariot drawn by two lions; with a John Quincy Adams Collection tag from the Stack's Sale

Ex John Quincy Adams Collection, 6th President of the United States, and His Descendants, ex Massachusetts Historical Society Collection, ex Stack’s Sale , 5-6 March 1971. lot 907 ? ex Forvm

 

I dont own any JQA owned coins.

I had to look up what this type would look like "normal" and its a attractive type. Even read it would be a rare type in general. So fouree or otherwise, nice #9.

I personally enjoy Fourees. I think they get a bad rap from some ancient collectors.

 

That is very cool. :thumb:

 

Unfortunately lot 907 was 17 antoniniani of Gordian III. I have seen several JQA coins sold with the wrong tags suggesting to me that the buyers did not always keep things straight. There was a 23 coin junk Republican lot #626 but there is no way to prove what was in it. I do have the JQA catalog and would be happy to look up lots for others here that have coins and tags.

 

Here's number 7 I guess It's a type I have not seen many of. I really like the style of the obv. and the metal has an interesting color to it (more so in hand).

Pontos, Amisos. Circa 85-65 BC.
Æ 21 mm
Bust of Amazon right, wearing wolfskin headdress / AMISOU, Nike walking right, holding wreath in right hand, palm over left shoulder. SNG BMC Black Sea 1218-1219; SNG Stancomb 704; SNG Copenhagen 165.

Heres a shot of a nicer one
http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/sg/sg3641.html

"Amisos was settled c. 760 - 750 B.C. by people from Miletus, who established a flourishing trade relationship with the ancient peoples of Anatolia. Amisos came under the rule of the Persian Empire, Alexander the Great's Macedonian Empire, and then the Kingdom of Pontus. The Romans took control in 47 B.C. and Amisos remained within the Byzantine Empire after the fall of Rome. In 1200, the city was captured by the Seljuks, to be later taken over by the Ilhanlilar. Amisos today is Samsun, a city of about half a million people on the north coast of Turkey."

Minted during the reign of Mithridates VI who was king of Pontus and Armenia Minor in northern Anatolia (now Turkey) from about 120 BC to 63 BC. Mithridates is remembered as one of the Roman Republic’s most formidable and successful enemies, who engaged three of the prominent generals from the late Roman Republic in the Mithridatic Wars: Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Lucullus and Pompey.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithridates_VI_of_Pontus

"According to ancient myths the delta east of Samsun was the land of the Amazons. The geographer Strabo (64 BC-21 AD) describes the Amazons as a people of female warriors. In order to shoot easily with bow and arrow they had one of their breast removed. The Amazons used men from neighboring peoples to reproduce themselves and male children were sent to neighboring peoples. The myths situate the period of the Amazons about 1200 BC."

http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Cities/AmisosSamsun.html

 

Ive always liked the various colors going on with this one. An interesting type which I havent seen elsewhere.

 

Thanks. I wonder if the red is an indicator of some led added the to metal.

 

In hand is it more patina or corrosion of some type?

 

Patina, IMO

 

In general red patina is harder to remove than green so a coin showing red deposits on stripped brass surfaces may have been a cleaning job stopped when all was left was red.

 

Do you think its more because of the minerals in the soil, or maybe the content of the metal?

 

I have no idea. What I know is I have decided not to buy coins with red patina that I can not live with just the way they are. My attempts at cleaning have not gone well.

 

With hesitation, here's #6.
The patina on this on looks amazing in hand and took a long to time to get a decent photo of it. Its a nice glossy lime/emerald green with a small amount of dirt still intact. Some of the patina had been chipped (perhaps while in the ground of when it was cleaned) but its still mostly intact. It has a great portrait too.


Antoninus Pius AE Dupondius. ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P, radiate head right / COS IIII S-C, Salus standing left feeding snake arising from altar to left & holding rudder to right.
Cohen 279 B.M.C. 1732 RIC 798, sear5 #4269 26mm 139 A.D.


In 139A.D.
"The Tomb of Hadrian in Rome is completed, emperor Antoninus Pius cremates the body of Hadrian and placed his ashes together with that of his wife Vibia Sabina and his adopted son, Lucius Aelius in the mausoleum.
Marcus Aurelius is named Caesar. He marries Faustina the Younger, daughter of Antoninus Pius."

 

Love the patina and its an excellent portrait of Pius as well.

 

Love the patina. I just love dark green patina coins, and black patinas.

 

#5 This one has a cracked flan, a scratch on the cheek, a couple splotches of green, hard to read mint mark, and is struck of center. But I think its the best later Roman bronze coins I have. It has a wonderful portrait, but detail on the reverse is fantastic. Its hard to imagine the effort it took to make this by hand, especially so long and such a small coin. It's the coin I use in my avatar too.


Constans AE 3
CONSTANS P F AVG, laureate & rosette-diademed, draped & cuirassed bust right / GLORIA EXERCITVS, two soldiers holding spears and shields with one standard between them, O on banner. Mintmark: A SIS star
Siscia

 

That is definitely a nice late roman. Very nice example.

 

Indeed it is a very nice piece. Its no wonder you use it for an icon. I dont think I would know who you are without it, lol.